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TECH NEWS

Tour de France Tech 2020: Jumbo-Visma’s Bianchi bikes

The Dutch team is looking to secure victory on the Bianchi Oltre XR4 and Aquila CV

Having ruled the UCI WorldTour over the past few weeks, Jumbo-Visma is among the strongest squads going into the Tour de France and many bookmakers have team leader Primoz Roglic as the race favourite. Here is the Bianchi Oltre XR4 – with a black paint job developed especially for the Tour de France – that the team will be riding over the next three weeks, along with their Aquila CV time trial bike.

Bianchi Oltre XR4

All of Jumbo-Visma’s recent wins – and there have been a lot of them – have been achieved on the Bianchi Oltre XR4, suggesting both that the team is in awesome form and that a bike that's positively elderly in World Tour terms can still cut it.

Although the Oltre XR4 is available in a disc brake version with fully internal cable routing, Jumbo-Visma's success has come on the rim brake model where the cables run externally between the handlebar and the head tube and front brake. Jumbo-Visma could use the disc brake model if it wanted, but it chooses not to. More on that in a mo.

Read our review of the Bianchi Oltre XR4 Disc 

This bike was released back in 2016. Bear in mind that the typical lifecycle of a top-end race bike is about three years. It's then redesigned or replaced.

Check out our report on the launch of the Bianchi Oltre XR4 

It could be that Bianchi was planning to update the Oltre XR4 in 2020 but that everything has been postponed because of the pandemic. It's still possible that a new bike could emerge before the end of the current race season but that's increasingly unlikely. A new model has yet to be added to the UCI's List of Approved Models of Frames and Forks

Tom Dumoulin Bianchi Oltre XR4 Bettini Photo - 1.jpeg

Our guess – we don't know for sure – is that the Oltre XR4 will be revamped or, more likely, an Oltre XR5 (or an entirely new platform) will be released next year.

Read our review of the rim brake Bianchi Oltre XR4 

The majority of high-end race bikes released by the big brands in 2021 are disc-brake only. There are no rim brake versions of the Specialized Tarmac SL7, the Trek Émonda SLR, or the Merida Reacto, for example. And having any cables/hoses on display is a rarity these days.

2021 tech trends: how next year's bikes are shaping up – plus emerging cycle tech trends for 2022 

2020 Jumbo Visma Bianchi Oltre XR4 - 1 (1).jpg

Why is Jumbo-Visma using the rim brake Bianchi Oltre XR4 when its riders could be on the disc brake model?

It’s probably down to weight. The Oltre XR4 is a fabulous bike but it isn’t as light as some of the newer aero road bikes out there. Specialized, for example, reckons that it’s new Tarmac SL7 is ultra-aero while being right on the UCI’s 6.8kg minimum limit for racing.

Wout Van Aert in green jersey and Tom Dumoulin (to the left of Van Aert) leading the peloton at the Criterium du Dauphiné (Credits- Cor Vos) - 1.jpeg

It’s likely that Jumbo-Visma would struggle to get the disc brake version of the Bianchi Oltre XR4 down to that figure, and a little extra weight can make a significant difference in a race like the Tour de France which is usually won and lost in the mountains.

Jumbo-Visma is certainly looking for weight savings, hence a new paint job for the team’s race bikes.

“Specifically for the Tour de France, Bianchi has developed a unique paint system that significantly reduces the molecular weight of the coating used for Team Jumbo-Visma’s Oltre XR4 – delivered in black colour with the iconic celeste Bianchi logos,” says Bianchi.

Team Jumbo-Visma's Oltre XR4 are characterized by an exclusive paint system that reduces the molecular weight of the coating (Credits- Bram Berkien) - 1.jpeg

“Thanks to [the] special paint system, Primoz Roglic, Tom Dumoulin and other Team Jumbo-Visma riders selected for the Grand Boucle will be able to save up to 80g on the total weight of the bike.”

The Jumbo-Visma bikes are usually fitted with a Vision Metron 5D or 6D integrated handlebar/stem.

The difference between them is that the tops of the 5D sweep forward from the stem section whereas the 6D is a more conventional design without this forward angle. Combined bar/stems have become ever more popular over the past few years.

Team Jumbo-Visma bikes are fitted with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset components, including power meters. Like the Bianchi Oltre XR4 frameset, the latest version of Dura-Ace Di2 was unveiled back in 2016 so it's overdue an update. Again, we don't think that revamp will be revealed this year but we'd be surprised – stunned – if it didn't show up in 2021.

The wheels are from Shimano too, although some hubs being used aren't from the current range (there's an unconfirmed rumour that the team uses Corima wheels in the mountains).

Aquila CV

There is no team time trial in this year’s Tour de France and there’s only one individual time trial. Even that is pretty unusual.

Stage 20 – the penultimate stage – is a 36km (20-mile) time trial from Lure to La Place des Belles Filles. It’s a summit finish at the end of a 5.9km climb that averages 8.5%. It’ll be interesting to see what bike (or bikes) each rider uses.

Jumbo-Visma will use Bianchi’s Aquila CV time trial bike, at least until the start of the climb.

Wout Van Aert and his Bianchi Aquila CV at the ITT Belgian National Championships (Credits- Cor Vos) - 1.jpeg

The CV refers to what Bianchi calls its uses Countervail vibration cancelling composite technology, which also features on other bikes in Bianchi's range, including the Oltre XR4.

“Developed for NASA by the Materials Sciences Corporation, Countervail is a composite-material system that combines viscoelastic carbon material within a unique fibre preform to cancel road vibrations and reduce turbulences in the frame that can affect its performance,” says Bianchi.

Everyone knows how much the bike industry loves a reference to space technology and NASA counts double!

Get the details on Countervail technology here

The high-modulus carbon monocoque frame uses NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) aerodynamic tube profiles. 

Many brands truncate the tube profiles – they effectively get rid of the long, tapering trailing edges and chop them off square instead, the idea being that you get virtually the same aero benefit with less material. Bianchi haven’t done this; they’ve kept the trailing edges in place.

The Aquila is made with deep-section tubing and features a fork crown and stem that integrate into the frame – neither increases the size of the bike’s frontal area. The seatstays are dropped, joining the seat tube well below the top of the rear wheel in order to reduce drag.

The Aquila uses rim brakes, but not standard callipers. Instead, there’s a V-brake incorporated into the front fork while the rear brake is positioned behind the bottom bracket.

Like the frame, the base bar uses a NACA airfoil profile.

Go to our story on the launch of the Bianchi Aquila CV

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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19 comments

Avatar
Velophaart_95 | 4 years ago
0 likes

Rumoured to be on Cervelo next year......

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huntswheelers | 4 years ago
2 likes

Nowt wrong with rim brakes ( we've been zooming down hills for over 100 yrs with rubber blocks to slow us) and exposed cables...shock.... I ride Bianchi on Campagnolo and whizz along fine enough.....as for customers on disc brakes who bleat about squeal, cost of finned pads and weak rotors...makes my till ring. As you say...not always the bike but the riders too...yet the article slants towards the more modern design as the thing....if so and it's about the bike/bike comparison....either the new disc things are not as good...or...the riders are not as good....food for thought...

Avatar
Mungecrundle replied to huntswheelers | 4 years ago
0 likes

Rim brakes are fine for stopping. I have an older bike with Dura Ace rim brakes and a newer one with Shimano discs. The discs are "better" in terms of feel and overall stopping distance. The rim brake bike has plenty of stopping power but it's not so controllable, more prone to lock up, though I'd put this down to ineptitude and the extra overall stopping distance down to the tyres rather than the brakes alone.

Putting actually stopping the bicycle aside for a moment, and what often gets left out are the other compromises and benefits of each system. Aerodynamics, weight, aesthetics, cost and being able to dispense with one function of the rim, i.e providing a braking surface.

For me, this is where the disc is a winner. I personally like the modern aesthetics of discs on carbon frames. Especially for carbon wheels, I like that the rim can be designed for aero advantage without the need for a brake track. I'm old enough to remember when carbon wheels were renowned for coming apart, sometimes spectacularly so with the heat build up and I have personal experience of attempting to brake on a carbon rim, in the wet, down English Bicknor Hill with no noticeable reduction in speed and the sound of gritty road crud grinding into my beautiful HED trispokes.

Avatar
Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
1 like

The XR4 is a fantastic bike. I have one. Mine has the Campag SR EPS 12 speed groupy, and disc brakes. It is the most sublime bike I've ridden. I hope JV make the most of it, as they're moving to Cervelo.

Avatar
huntswheelers replied to Judge dreadful | 4 years ago
1 like
Judge dreadful wrote:

The XR4 is a fantastic bike. I have one. Mine has the Campag SR EPS 12 speed groupy, and disc brakes. It is the most sublime bike I've ridden. I hope JV make the most of it, as they're moving to Cervelo.

Yeah....loads of the Cervelo come through my workshop.... gradually customers are seeing the light and going Italian....be it Bianchi,Wilier,Colnago,Basso,Battaglin,Cippolini etc....

Avatar
Nick T | 4 years ago
1 like

Jumbo and Ineos proving that road disc for racing is a just a pointless marketing exercise

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Rich_cb replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
1 like

There's a good article about this on cyclingtips.

Essentially Ineos and Jumbo have, relatively, heavy bikes.

They therefore prioritise weight in the choices they make. Rim brakes are lighter so they go rim.

Both teams also use non sponsor wheels and apparently Jumbo even forgo paint occasionally for the same reason.

For teams with access to disc brakes at, or near, the weight limit there is no such trade off needed and they go disc.

Avatar
njblackadder replied to Rich_cb | 4 years ago
1 like

Maybe! I see the sense in most of what you say, but they very obviously do not forego paint. The bikes are all 'Celeste' finished, which is painted - at least I have yet to see a photograph of a Jumbo Visma bike in a bare carbon finish (though I stand to be corrected). Playing Devil's advocate (I have no problem with disc brakes), it is also very unlikely that any professional would prioritise a few grammes over a significant performance improvement. When considering competitive use, I believe discs are only 'better' under certain circumstances, though for general use the benefits probably outweigh any downside.

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Nick T replied to Rich_cb | 4 years ago
1 like

...Which proves that discs are no better for racing

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hawkinspeter replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
2 likes

Nick T wrote:

...Which proves that discs are no better for racing

Well, they do slow you down

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IanEdward | 4 years ago
1 like

Quote:

Of course, race wins are down to riders far more than bikes, and it'll be interesting to see whether Jumbo-Visma manages to hold its form over the coming weeks.

Am sure journalists and marketing teams alike are waiting with baited breath, imagine a pro team in this day and age having the temerity to win races with rim brakes and exposed cables! You'll be telling us next they haven't gone tubeless either... 

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Liam Cahill replied to IanEdward | 4 years ago
2 likes

Some archaic (better) tyre tech called tubular...

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fukawitribe replied to Liam Cahill | 4 years ago
1 like

"better" ? Different strengths and weaknesses, or some random blanket 'better' whatever that might mean ?

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Liam Cahill replied to fukawitribe | 4 years ago
4 likes

Better in the sense that I get to sit in my garden for a few hours glueing and not being bothered

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fukawitribe replied to Liam Cahill | 4 years ago
0 likes

Fair enough!  1

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Nick T replied to fukawitribe | 4 years ago
1 like

Safer, lighter, stronger = better 

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fukawitribe replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
0 likes

Aye, for road-racing especially where you have the cash to buy them, or someone else does, and/or deals with maintenance (Liam's garden Zen experience aside). Maybe bit of CX. Nothing generally better.

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njblackadder replied to fukawitribe | 4 years ago
1 like

For the use Jumbo Visma put them to.......... Better!!

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IanEdward replied to Liam Cahill | 4 years ago
0 likes

Liam Cahill wrote:

Some archaic (better) tyre tech called tubular...

Sounds like a fancy way of saying tubes smiley

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